Borsani Demi Lune Wall Console with Marble Top
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Osvaldo Borsani wall console, demi lune marble top with gilded timber. Italy, c 1940s, 63 cm high, 100 cm wide, 50 cm deep.
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- Demi Lune - Demi-lune is a French word translating to half-moon or crescent-shaped. In jewellery the demi lune shape is used in the design of pendants and earrings. The crescent shape adds a touch of elegance and femininity, and is often used to symbolize the moon or to evoke a sense of mystery and magic. In furniture design, a demi-lune table is a narrow, crescent-shaped table that is often used as an accent piece or in small spaces where a full-sized table would not fit. Demi-lune tables were popular in the 18th and 19th centuries and were often decorated with intricate carvings or inlaid designs.
- Gilding - Gilding is a method of ornamentation whereby a thin sheet of gold metal is applied to items made of wood, leather, ceramics, glass and silver for decorative purposes.
For furniture including mirrors, the sheet of gold is usually applied over a coating of gesso. Gesso is a mixture of plaster of Paris and gypsum mixed with water and then applied to the carved wooden frames of mirrors and picture frames as a base for applying the gold leaf. After numerous coats of gesso have been applied, allowed to dry and then sanded a coat of "bole", a usually red coloured mixture of clay and glue is brushed on and allowed to dry, after which the gold leaf is applied. Over time parts of the gilding will rub off so the base colour can be seen. In water gilding, this was generally a blue colour, while in oil gilding, the under layer was often yellow. In Victorian times, gilders frequently used red as a pigment beneath the gold leaf.
Metal was often gilded by a process known as fire gilding. Gold mixed with mercury was applied and heated, causing the mercury to evaporate, the long-term effect of which was to kill or disable the craftsman or woman from mercury poisoning. The pursuit of beauty has claimed many victims, not the least of which were the artists who made those pieces so highly sought after today.
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